Violet Nights 24: Several Shades Of Sunset
by Funky In Fishnet
Summary: Arwen and Aragorn, separated by college and university respectively, email each other about birthdays, family, love and choices. Eowyn, Eomer, Faramir and Boromir refuse to let Aragorn be a hermit-crab.


**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

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**SEVERAL SHADES OF SUNSET**

To: brokensword   
From: healinghands 

Subject: Thank you!

Dear Aragorn,

Since I can't hug you at the moment, I'm hugging your amazing present instead. El &amp; El have been teasing me about that a lot. Your parcel arrived just before my birthday. I love the wrapping paper; I've used it to cover one of my notebooks. Your present was wonderful; I thought it went out of print years ago. I don't know how you found a copy but thank you so much. I treasure the card too of course and am using it as a bookmark, it makes me smile every time I open my book.

I can't believe my time at college will be over so soon. Then, as Father is fond of reminding me, the real work begins. I still haven't changed my mind – I'm going to become a doctor and I'm going to marry you. Father tells me that he has heard far worse lifeplans, El &amp; El have announced that they will be the best men :) The only caution Father has delivered is that he would prefer it if I didn't marry too young, I've told him that I'm not going to rush into anything. My choice is a statement of intent, nothing more at the moment. You and I both have far too much to do first.

Tonight, I'm going to make my first visit to Violet Nights. El &amp; El are sure that Something Will Happen. All I know is it'll be lovely to see Bilbo again, he's come to Rivendell several times and his mother is a great friend of Father's. They're such lovely funny people; I don't know anyone else like them. I can't wait for you to meet them.

I have a lot to tell you, as always, and miss your wisdom and your hugs. I am counting down the days, quite literally, until I see you again and hope you will be able to get away from university to help me move. Say hello to Eowyn and Eomer for me and please do get the name of that book from Faramir, it sounds wonderful.

All my love (and so many hugs!)

Arwen

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To: healinghands   
From: brokensword 

Subject: re Thank you!

Arwen,

The timing of your email was perfect – I'd had a truly terrible day which had involved breaking up a fight in philosophy class, then Boromir giving his brother the silent treatment and several books I needed all being absent from the library. Your email was therefore even more of a blessing than usual.

I'm glad you liked the present, paper and card. I hate that I wasn't there on your birthday; both Boromir and Faramir have asked me to pass on their heavy apologies and thank you profusely for 'loaning' me out on such a special occasion. They insist that they would have coped without me but I'm glad I was around to help them. Of course I also regret that I didn't get to watch you unwrap your presents.

Eowyn wants to know when you're going to visit me; she tells me she's eager to meet the person who makes me smile so much. Eomer keeps glancing at my photographs of you as though he can't quite believe you're real. You'll be pleased to hear that Eowyn hit me very soundly when I mentioned our age difference. I think you two will get on very well, she also claims that our age gap isn't an obstacle unless I make it one.

I miss your hugs too and your kind limitless heart and just how well you know me. I miss El &amp; El too and your Father, please give them my regards.

I look forward to helping you with the great move. I am very proud of you, Dr Half.

All my love,

Aragorn

P.S. Eomer says that if you do exist then I'm clearly not good enough for you, especially as you're going to be a doctor. Eowyn is hitting him as I type this.

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To: healinghands   
From: shieldmaiden 

Subject: Incoming!

Hello Arwen,

I hope you don't mind but I got your email address from Aragorn. You may have heard that my brother doesn't believe in your existence but I've seen the smile on Aragorn's face when he's thinking about you and I know there has to be a real person behind that. You have wonderfully blessed genes by the way; I'd kill for your complexion.

I just wanted to email you to invite you down to see us. Do you think you could make it for the Easter Ball? Maybe beforehand as well? I think it might do Aragorn the world of good, I'm sure he misses you. I'm a bit concerned about him. He had a letter from his mother recently and he hasn't been the same since.

I meant to ask about that, if you can't tell me, don't worry but I thought it might help if someone around here actually knew the situation. Aragorn says that he grew up with you and your family but his mum is in touch with him too? He never talks about his dad so he's not in the picture? I don't want to say something that makes Aragorn hermit-crab more than usual.

He's enjoying university though, I promise. Pretty much everyone likes him, even Boromir and that's after the ridiculous fight they got into when they first met. It was mostly a lot of macho bullshit from Boromir, Faramir's told me a bit about their family which unfortunately explains a lot. I've come to the conclusion that parents are a problem for everyone. Thank God for the horses, Eomer and I spend a lot of time at the local stables. You're welcome to join us, Aragorn's a great horseman.

He told me that you're going to be a doctor. The way he talks about you, it sounds like there's nothing you can't do.

I can't wait to meet you.

Eowyn.

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To: brokensword   
From: healinghands 

Subject: Easter

Dear Aragorn,

Eowyn sent me a nice email today, she makes university sound a lot more eventful than you do. She seems like fun and suggested a very good idea - I'd love to visit you for the Easter Ball. Maybe we could travel back home together afterwards? Father is keen for us all to be together at Easter as El &amp; El are off travelling soon after so it'll be the last chance we'll get to be together as a family before I start my medical degree.

I've heard about the stables, I'd love to visit them. Has Boromir stopped giving Faramir the silent treatment yet? He sounds like Thorin – Bilbo's boyfriend, he's the one that runs Erebor and who looks at me like he's quite sure I'm going to cause trouble. El &amp; El think that upsetting him is extremely funny. The other Durins are rather wary of us as well and shake their heads at our vegetarian diet. It is funny. It exasperates Bilbo though and he keeps threatening to throw all the Durins out of Violet Nights. Dis, Thorin's sister, thinks it's all as hilarious as El &amp; El do, she was dating them both for a while, do you remember? Father likes her, especially since seeing him having tea with Dis makes Thorin's behaviour even worse. Dis' sons are almost friendly though, I recently had a great debate with Fili about medical examiners on television and the comparative amounts of research on display.

I'm looking forward to proving my existence to Eomer and spending time with Eowyn, I think we'll get on well. How long has she been in love with you?

We got a lovely letter from your mother the other day. She'd drawn a lake and a forest at the bottom of the page and a very pretty sunset. She'd used dark colours though, purples and blues instead of red, orange and yellow. She said it was very true to life. She thinks she'll visit at some point over Christmas and mentioned that she wrote to you as well. What did she draw on your letter?

I'm glad that you were there for Boromir and Faramir when they really needed you, despite what they say to the contrary. You've always been a good man, which is one of many reasons why I'm going to marry you.

It's raining now and I promised that I'd talk to Glorfindel about weatherproofing the outdoor signs.

All my love,

Arwen

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To: shieldmaiden   
From: healinghands 

Subject: Re: Incoming!

Dear Eowyn,

It's lovely to hear from you. Aragorn says that you're a good friend. He is, as you say, a hermit-crab sometimes, so focused on his studies. It's good that he has people like you around to make sure that he rides horses :)

I've told Aragon that I'd love to visit him for the Easter Ball but I'd also love to come up earlier, how do you fancy planning a surprise for him? If there's anything I can bring with me as a 'thank you' please let me know. A friend of mine is an amazing baker so I'll try to bring a box of his best with me. If Eomer doesn't believe I exist then he won't get a single bite.

Aragorn's mother Gilraen is still very much part of his life. Her husband – Aragorn's father – died before Aragorn was born and Gilraen found it extremely difficult to give Aragorn the stable homelife that she wanted for him while also continuing the work that keeps her away and on the road practically all the time. She really loves her job – it involves botany and something geographical, it always sounds very interesting and important. So she asked her husband's friend – my father Elrond – if he would foster Aragorn. Aragorn grew up with us and sees his mother whenever she's able to visit. Aragorn and I are aware that the situation is unusual. He finds it difficult sometimes, I think, not knowing his mother as well as he'd like to or much about his own family background. Father has told him what he can.

I'm looking forward to meeting you and meeting the horses. I've added my phone number below if you want to give me a call sometime.

Much affection,

Arwen.

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To: healinghands   
From: brokensword 

Subject: Difficult situation

Arwen,

Eomer claims that his sister fell in love with me at the beginning of our first year here. Eowyn claims that she only ever had a crush on me. Was it really that obvious to you after just one email from her? I only realised myself last week. Boromir laughed when I talked to him about it. Eowyn has always been a good friend, someone I can rely on for an honest opinion and very good back-up when needed, breaking up fights in philosophy comes to mind. I thought that I'd been clear, that it was obvious I'm involved with someone but Eowyn mentioned that I don't talk about you very much so maybe she thought it wasn't serious or that like Eomer you were just wistful thinking on my part. Truthfully I like to keep you silently close to my heart and now my selfishness has hurt someone I've always considered a good friend.

I didn't keep quiet about you because I'm ashamed. I just can't help thinking that you'll meet someone at university who'll be closer to your own age and much better for you. Eowyn hit me when I said that and told me very fiercely that I'm your choice and that denying you that is the most idiotic patronising thing I could do. She was insistent that it would ultimately prove I'm not good enough for you. This whole difficult situation, and being apart from you. has given me a lot to think about. I do want to marry you, Arwen. No matter how often I've tried to envision living without you, for your own sake, my feelings for you haven't changed. I still believe that you deserve much better but I'm not striving for a future without you in it, I can't, not anymore.

Your father has told me that we have his blessing, as long as we take things at a sensible pace. I am trying to be a man that deserves you; I feel like in my friendship with Eowyn I haven't succeeded. I told her that and she laughed but there were tears in her eyes.

Ever since then, her feelings for me have gone completely unmentioned and she has been just as good a friend as before. The fact that she wrote to you and invited you here personally says a lot. She's been spending more time with Faramir recently. I don't know if Boromir has noticed yet, Eomer approves and has been teasing his sister and as a result now has a lot more bruises.

I would love to see you at Easter. A family gathering afterwards sounds like a great idea too. Is the world truly ready for El &amp; El? My mother did write to me, she drew a couple of statues of armoured kings and a full moon.

I truly cannot wait to see you.

All my love,

Aragorn


End file.
